Spring Break for Dummies
by GabmoreGirl
Summary: Rory and Jess meet on Spring Break and try to settle things. Who knows where that will lead? Possibly to her hotel room. Kind of a Lit. Maybe a Rorysomeone else. I'm not realy sure yet.Picks up in the middle of Girls In Bikinis, Boys Doin' the Twist.
1. Introduction

"If we're going to do Spring Break we have to do it right," Paris's voice echoed through Rory's head as she watched Madeline lick her hand, stamping on the _Over 21_ stamp. Rory couldn't really understand how this worked, but whatever. She was pretending to have fun, for Paris's mental health's sake. 

She followed Madeline over to the bar, where she lingered over what to order. She settled on beer - mostly because she was unfamiliar to drinking and because Madeline ordered a punch that smelled strong enough to burn a hole through the cup. "Can I have a beer?" Rory said to the barkeepers back. His hair was stick-upy and reminded her vaguely of. . .

"Jess," Rory said his name for the first time in ages. What were the chances of this?

"Wow, this is a mental image even I couldn't imagine," Jess said sarcastically, his voice almost breaking. His ran his hands nervously through his hair.

"Hi," Rory responded in a voice that sounded dreamy and light. Except it wasn't a dream, it was a nightmare.


	2. Never Should Be

A/N: Jess never went back to Stars Hollow after he left. He wasn't planning to. His car was never stolen by Luke. All is a peace with the Mariano/Danes clan, except that their all mental. 

"Wow. It's you." Rory said after Jess exited the bar. He said it was the end of his shift, even though Rory saw the lying look in his eyes. They knew each other too well for things like that.

"So you remember what I look like," he distractedly replied while fumbling for the door handle of the Employees Only exit. The beach was dark and empty. They walked quietly anyway.

"Why are you here?" Rory asked quietly, turning to look at his face. She was drowning in it, as if when she looked away he would be gone again. She barley blinked until he answered.

"You know…soaking up the rays, hanging out with the Baywatch crew, you just can't get enough of it," He rambled in a very Rory-ish way.

"Girlfriend?" she asked, smirking.

"Roommate," He stared at his shoes for a minute before sitting down on the cool sand. She followed suit. "So how is everyone?"

"In town? Demented." They both laughed in a natural sort of way, even though the awkwardness was still there. He gave her a special look, full of meaning. "Really, how is everyone?"

"Okay." She said, her voice also matching his silent code. She was okay. She might be a little mad and a little sad, but she was okay.

"Still going to Yale?" he asked, almost echoing a conversation from yesteryear.

"Still going to Yale," Rory half-giggled. "Paris is my roommate."

"Don't you love irony?" He paused for a second. "I still can't get over you trying to buy a beer. Illegally, might I add."

"I'm a bad girl on Spring Break. Just go with it." Continuing the pattern, they were quiet for a moment. "Things have changed."

"Yeah they have." This time the quiet was reflective, but Jess could feel it pressing down on him. Sure, he was usually the monosyllabic one, but at least they could usually keep a banter going. This was just wrong. "You really should meet him."

"Huh?" Rory was thrown off by the sudden subject change.

"My roommate, Rob. He's a geek, but he likes music, too. Reminds me of Dave a little." Jess fully stopped, thinking of where this conversation could lead. Dave meant prom, which lead to questions. They weren't ready yet, they needed a minute more on the surface.

"Hmm," Rory lightly responded, acknowledging Jess's silent wish. For once, though, he needed to dig deeper. Their conversation was feeling coded and it was now or never.

"I'm sorry," he said in almost a whisper. It sounded foreign on his lips.

"Did you ever wonder why it didn't work?" Rory asked in a similar voice. "I think we both had too much baggage. Mostly me, with the town. They drive me crazy, following my every move. Things are better when you get away."

"Rory," Jess said harshly, standing up now. "You know we're never going to work. I love you, you know that? But it's just not going to happen."

He watched as a tear rolled down her face. He cupped her face lightly, kneeling in front of her, wishing he could take back what he's just said.

"Your wrong," she backed away from him. "I love you, too, but life takes effort."

"I'm not Dean. You can't fold me up and adjust me to your schedule. I don't suddenly appear just to be jealous 'cause some guy breathed on you, or to suck up to your mom."

"I never asked you to! I asked you to try and be civil to my mom so you wouldn't end up dead. Sure I was a little mad when you never called me, but I never told you and I just got over it. I lied to my mom about going to a concert with you. And you ran away. But not before getting in a fight with my ex-boyfriend 'cause I looked upset at a party. Sure, that was his fault, but it was still frustrating."

"But - " Jess began.

"Shut the hell up!" Rory commanded, and Jess listened for once. "I know the fight was my fault because I'm stupid and…"

She started crying again, this time slightly louder. Jess moved forward to hug her. She pulled away again, taking his pity feeling away and making him mad.

"You know, this sad thing is starting to wear off. You said this whole damn thing was my fault, then you go around talking about how stupid you are for causing it to happen. Your just a spoiler rich brat and that's all you'll ever be."

"I need a drink," Rory said, standing wobbly on her half-asleep legs. She waited for him to chase after her, but he didn't. He didn't some at all.


	3. All Over Again

Rory re-entered the "hot place" swiftly through the back door. Her last conversation with Paris hadn't ended very good, but Rory knew that Paris would insult Jess into the ground, and that satisfied her. 

After a few minutes of searching, she found all three drunken ex-Chiltonites sitting at a small table by the pool

"Tristan was not sexy," Paris argued slowly, not talking in her usual brisk pace. It was entertaining, slightly, to watch as she shook her head before starring back down at her half-empty cup of punch.

"He looked like a movie star," Maddie said dreamily. Then they all seemed to notice the tear-streaked face slightly to the left of Louise's shoulder.

"What's wrong with you?" Paris asked suddenly.

"That idiot…he's here. And he caught me and said I was stupid."

"Ex-boyfriend?" Madeline turned to Louise.

"Definitely." She turned to Rory. "He's stupid, just let it go."

"Was it Dean?" Madeline asked in her gossip voice, handing Rory one of the mysterious cups of punch. Rory suspected that whatever it was, it would be punching her in the morning. She drank it anyway. "God, he was gorgeous."

"No, Jess."

"The bad boy one?"

"Yeah, sure, except he's not so bad anymore."

"Whatever happened to Dean?" Madeline asked slowly, still stuck on his gorgeousness.

"He got married."

"Yeah, so his head would fit under the ceiling. One more year, and the church would be getting some new skylights." Paris angrily interrupted.

"He was tall," Louise giggled. "What about Jess?"

"Well, I didn't have to stand on a box to kiss him, if that's what your asking." Rory laughed too, starting a trend with the girls who were out of it enough to keep talking about the guys until late that night.

"Sorry, Rory, someone took your bed," Janet whispered when they got back to the room. They've all claimed the cots and couch…so there's always the floor. Goodnight."

Rory wandered aimlessly down the hallway, eventually aiming herself towards the reception desk where a man in a pink and white uniform sat, head on table. "Hi, can I have a room?" She asked, awaking him from some kind of nap. She said it in one breath, as she was starting to feel dizzy.

"That'll be $90. We have three rooms left." The man looked at her suspiciously.

"Oh, crap! I left my wallet in my room. Let me go get it." She looked back at him, waving her hand in a reassuring way. "Save it under the name Tookie Clothespin. I'll be back." Rory stumbled back down the hall, bumping straight into the guy from the pool.

"Hi," he said, walking alongside her. "What are you doing?

"Got kicked out," Rory said, hoping he didn't remember the awful kiss.

"Want to stay with me? We have an empty couch." He smiled, and she thought he looked trustable.

"Sure, why not? It's Spring Break."

"So…your girlfriend broke up with you?" He asked when they started back towards the room. They could still hear the faint remains of the everlasting party going on outside.

"Yeah, sure." She decided to play along anyway, what was the point in arguing? They came to the room and he began digging around for the key. It came upon her to ask him name, but what did it matter. She let the thought go and focused on standing.

"So what's her name?" he asked, pulling open the door. It took Rory a minute to realize who was standing across the room.

"Jess," Rory said, watching Jess mouth 'we can talk later.'

"That's my roommates name. From Philly."

"What's your name?" She asked sitting on the couch. It was old and worn, like most of the hotels furniture.

"Rob." Oh. She already knew that. Rory instinctively looked over Rob's shoulder at Jess, who looked confused.

"Cool name," Rory shook he head slightly.

"What?"

"Just a little dizzy. Sure it was nothing. I'm going to bed." She shot Jess another meaningful look, saying 'Later.'

"Yeah, me too," Jess fake yawned. "I'm going to sleep too."

"Okay, goodnight," Rob gave a confused look then headed over to his bed in the room.

Rory felt the tap on her shoulder about half an hour later and sat up quietly, being careful as she could to make no noise. She was drunk, after all.

"You're a bad actor," Rory said to Jess as she stumbled outside the door.

"You are too," He stepped back slightly. "But you're drunk, so I guess you have an excuse for it."

"Your roommate thinks I'm gay." He stepped closer, she stepped back. They were playing the old relationship game, one step forward, one step back. Never closer but never farther away.

"'Bout time you came out of the closet," Jess said jokingly, before Rory hit him lightly on the arm.

"Try and keep up, won't you? I thought Dean was a girl when I first met him…" Rory flirted, or at least attempted to.

"The hair does do that to people," Jess whispered, kissing her softly.

"Good boy. You get a treat." Rory closed the gap this time, kissing him harder against the wall. Jess stumbled backwards for a minute before grabbing her hands and shoving her away.

"Not now," Jess said quietly, pulling a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and passing them from one hand to another.

"But I'm ready now," Rory said quieter. "I have to make everything up to you."

"You're drunk, you don't know what you're saying," He backed up again, just out of reach, escaping her hard gaze.

"You said earlier that I never know what I'm saying. Why is this different?"

"Because it just is. Life sucks."

"I'm sorry for everything that's happened. Can't you see that?" When he didn't respond, she continued. "I guess not. Just go."

Jess stomped off this time in the other direction down the hall. Rory wanted to go back to sleep, but realized too late that he had the hotel room key.


	4. Right Here Waiting

Jess's watch said four thirty when he walked back through the hallway where he and Rory had their argument and saw her shivering on the floor. He'd just gone out for a smoke, he'd expected her to try and get a room again.

"Rory…are you okay?" he asked when she didn't respond to his footsteps. He bent down to feel her face, which was freezing cold and blank of all expression. He knew he should've just trusted his instinct and walked away. "Rory…what's wrong? Rory!"

She barely moved at all, only to curl her arm further around her leg. And he didn't think that was voluntary. He went against his instincts again and picked her up. She felt oddly heavy - she was pretty much dead weight, after all.

This time in the morning, there were still people arriving and partying. The parking lot wasn't near empty, but no one seemed to care that he was carrying an unconscious girl. No big deal to them.

The hospital parking lot was vaguely the same. He knew that morning rush would be starting soon - various injuries and people in drunken states. He filled out the forms quickly, having all the information about her personal history memorized. His heart had gotten involved, and now all he wanted was for them to fix her.

She looked even worse when they put her on a stretcher. Luckily Jess had the common sense to grad her cell phone. He still didn't have one. And though he knew her number by heart (it took lots of fast dialing to be able to call and hang up so smoothly) he could barley keep his hands still. He was nervous. _So sue me_, he thought.

"It's four o'clock in the freakin morning. Whaddya want?" Lorelai mumbled into the phone.

"It's Jess," He heard Lorelai look down at the caller id. He was even more nervous. They didn't exactly have the best relationship, he could guess. He doubted it had gotten better since he left.

"Where'd you get Rory's phone?" she asked, sitting up in bed. "Did you steal it?"

"She's unconscious. She was staying with my roommate. She's in the ER." From the other end of the line, he heard Lorelai's famous snort of disapproval. Then he heard the click, the beep, and the dial tone. "Thanks for your approval."

He mumbled to himself, flipping through the contacts menu. Dean, Luke's…Luke! He hit SEND and listened to it ring, knowing that Luke would probably be up for an order.

"Luke's," Luke finally said. He really needed to get his hearing checked.

"Rory's hurt," Jess said quickly.

"Jess?" Luke asked, suddenly confused. Jess heard him look at the caller id. _That seems to be a recurring theme_, he thought absently.

"I know, I took her phone when they put her on the stretcher." Why couldn't anyone understand that he _wasn't_ a thief? "She was drunk and she passed out or something. She was breathing but not talking or moving."

"Did you call Lore?" he asked slowly. Jess thought he might be in shock. Rory, drunk?

"She hung up on me."

"Hospital?" Luke jumped into action. Jess could hear his pen click into a ready position.

"North Beach Memorial," Jess said. "Come please, both of you."

"We'll try," Luke said honestly. Then he hung up and left Jess staring at the lonely brick wall, scared and unprepared.

Jess had been asleep for hours - lucky, because consciousness would bring memories which would bring sadness over his ex-girlfriends current state. Instead he dreamed about what had happened. It made him numb and when he woke up he thought it was all a dream, not the reality. He awoke to Lorelai waving a book in front of his face.

"Jess!" she said loudly, obviously upset that her baby was hurt. Her hair was messy from sleep and airplane travel. She was wearing jeans and a t-shirt, with a limp bag at her side and bags equal in size under her eyes. "She's awake now."

"How long have you been here?" he asked groggily. Luke was missing. Maybe he hadn't come.

"Ten minutes," Lorelai walked over and sat beside him in a waiting room chair. "They won't let me see her yet, though."

"How is she?" Reality came slinking back. It hurt more than the numbness of the dream.

"Awake. Alive, apparently." The last comment was sarcastic. Lorelai would be Lorelai, no matter the placement. "Someone drugged her drink."

"What?" If he'd been calm before, he wasn't now. He almost chocked on his own tongue. It felt awkward, sitting there. It wasn't fair for him to be fine and for her to be hurt. He was selfish.

"I'm a bad mother. I said 'no windows.' It wasn't enough. I should've written a guidebook or called her every ten minutes reminding her to pour her own drinks. Or just locked her in her room." Lorelai stopped, sucking in air as hard as humanly possible. "Why am I such a bad influence on her?"

"Your not a bad influence. You're the best parent I know. If she grows up to be anything like you, she should be happy." Jess wasn;t used to comforting people. Apparently it was a natural gift, a survival instinct. "And if I ever find out who drugged her, I'll kill them."

"Jess?" Lorelai said softly, looking up.

"Yeah?"

"What are you doing here?" She didn't say it in a mean way like Jess thought she would. She asked it delicately, as if the question could break into a thousdan pieces at any second. It surprised him.

"You know. I found her." He said awkwardly. He knew what she really wanted to ask, and he was trying to avoid it.

"No, I meant why are you still here?" She knew why. He could see in her eyes that she knew. _Because I love your daughter, _he said in his head. He knew Lorelai could understand that, too.

"I don't really know."

"You and Rory broke up." Lorelai looked him in the eye this time. She was right. Finally she found his weak spot. Their gazes held for a minute longer. "Go. Sleep. I promise we won't leave without telling you first."

"The phone?" he asked, holding it out to her.

"Keep it. We need to stay in touch, and it won't do her any good." Lorelai attempted at a smile. It looked puny, but Jess knew she meant it.

"Thanks, Lorelai." He turned to leave but stopped short. "Can I ask you a favor?"

"Sure, why not?"

"Don't tell Rory I found her. I…I don't think she's ready for it yet." He said it in his typical way. They's have no connections then. He was free to run if he wanted, she'd never know the difference.

"I understand," Lorelai said_. Like mother, like daughter, _he thought as he was leaving._ Both too perceptive for their own damn good._


End file.
